Science Fair Information - McBean Elementary School

Science FairGuidelines and Helpful Hints

The Scientific ProcessResearch a TopicIdentify a problem and form a questionState your HypothesisTest your hypothesis by experimentingand testingDraw conclusions based on resultsReport Results

TopicWhat topic interests you most? What have youalways wondered about that topic?AnimalsPlantsWeatherConsumers choiceElectricity

The Big QuestionBegin by asking a question that can be tested.This is also the title of the project.Example:What is the effect of ____ on ______?How does the _____ affect ______?Will flower seeds germinate faster that are fedfertilizer than those that are not fed fertilizer?There is no right answer to the Big Question.The purpose of the science fair project is to askquestions and perform experiments in an attemptto find answers

HypothesisA hypothesis is a guess based on the research andknowledge of the topic.Based on everything you learned, you need todetermine what you think the outcome of yourexperiment will be. This is a statement thatguesses the result of the experiment.You may or may not be right, but you will have to dothe experiment to find out.

The ExperimentPlan your procedures. Outline steps andmaterials you will need.Take or draw pictures for the display.Write down everything you observe and do.This information is called data. This will be thelog book. You will use this data to drawconclusions and in writing the formal report.

For example

Graphs and Charts90807060504030201001st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th QtrEastWestNorth

PowerPoint PresentationStudents may use Microsoft PowerPoint topresent their projects. Please burn to a disc,jump drive, or CD.If a 4 th or 5 th grade student places in theschool fair, then the project needs to betransferred to a tri-board.

Web HelpersScience Fair Web siteshttp://www.super-science-fair-projects.com/http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~breads/sciencefair.htmlhttp://www.scifair.org/ideas/index.shtmlhttp://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/pages/sciencefairzone/topics.asphttp://quark.physics.uwo.ca/sfair/sfideas.htmhttp://www.bibb.k12.ga.us/appling/ScFairProject.htmhttp://www.yoursciencefair.org/Student/Ideas.htm

Formal ReportCover page- Title, name , Class, Grade and dateBegin your report by stating your project question andHypothesis.Write about what you found out about from researchthat helped you design your experiment and answeryour project question.Describe your experiment and observations.Include all outcomes and compare the results withyour hypothesis.Did your results support your hypothesis or not? Thiswill be the conclusion.Write a bibliography. This includes the names of anybooks, magazines, websites, and any other resourcesyou used for your project.Cover page (1), report (1-2), bibliography (1)

Science FairTri Boards on Sale$3.00See Mrs. Mullins